With the Orioles rapidly approaching the quarter mark of the season, I’ve offered a dozen thoughts, each in 50 words or less:

1. Dan Straily failed to complete five innings for the third consecutive start, elevating his ERA to 8.23. Some patience was warranted after his spring was disrupted, but the Orioles hoped he’d at least eat innings and just maybe pitch well enough to become a small trade chip. He’s done neither.

2. The pitching staff has onlytwo 100-pitch outings and seven starts of six innings or more almost 40 games in. I do believe the Orioles are trying to be proactive with health and effectiveness the third time through the order, but starters simply haven’t pitched well enough to go deeper.

3. Baltimore entered Friday — which wasn’t pretty — still ranking last in the majors with a 5.52 ERA, but starters held a 3.65 mark and relievers a 3.14 ERA through the first seven games of May. Baby steps, especially after giving up an obscene 73 homers in the opening 30 games.

4. I was surprised to realize Trey Mancini ended a month-long home run drought Friday, but 11 doubles gave him a solid .437 slugging percentage over those 22 games. Not only has his bat been outstanding, but his right-field defense passes the eyeball test more than how he looked in left.

5. The Orioles are throwing the most changeups in the majors after ranking seventh last year, but they’re ninth in FanGraph’s changeup value after finishing 28th in 2018. It isn’t only John Means as Andrew Cashner and Dylan Bundy are throwing them more frequently and effectively. Other pitches are another story.

6. Since improving his batting average to .301 on April 24, Renato Nunez has only four hits in his last 48 at-bats. He’s still among the club leaders in average exit velocity, but he’s really been struggling after a good start.

7. Mychal Givens has recorded more than three outs in eight of his first 13 appearances of 2019. That should look much more appealing to potential trade partners than if he were being used as a conventional ninth-inning closer on a club with few save chances.

8. With recent first-round Grayson Rodriguez and DL Hall striking out a combined 16 over 9 2/3 innings for their affiliates Thursday and 2018 third-round pick Blaine Knight being promoted to Single-A Frederick Friday, there’s some pitching light at the end of the tunnel if you peer patiently.

9. If you believe the many draft pundits, I’ve yet to hear an overly compelling argument for general manager Mike Elias taking someone other than Oregon State catcher Adley Rutschman first overall next month. If he’s indeed the best prospect, don’t overthink it.

10. The extended absence of Nate Karns (forearm tightness) was the reason why the Orioles gave the talented, but oft-injured pitcher only an $800,000 contract. Alex Cobb (lower back) making just three starts while earning $14 million this season is a different story.

11. I admire Brandon Hyde’s positivity managing a club constructed with no designs of winning, but the Orioles striking out a club-record 22 times Wednesday probably warranted a little more criticism from him in his post-game press conference, no matter how good Chris Sale is.

12. Jackie Bradley Jr.’s game-saving catch on Trey Mancini’s 11th-inning drive Wednesday goes down as one of the best catches in Camden Yards history when you consider the game situation, but I’ve yet to see one better than Mike Devereaux robbing Joe Carter in the inaugural 1992 season.

Despite not being voted Most Valuable Oriole this season, Orioles third baseman Manny Machado finished fourth in the 2015 AL MVP voting, well ahead of slugging teammate Chris Davis.

The only player in the majors to appear in all 162 regular-season games in 2015, Machado received four third-place votes, 11 fourth-place votes, and five fifth-place votes from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America as he finished behind only winner Josh Donaldson of Toronto, Los Angeles outfielder Mike Trout, and Lorenzo Cain of Kansas City. Davis finished 14th despite leading the majors with 47 home runs and being named 2015 Most Valuable Oriole by the local media.

Machado not only proved his worth as the Orioles’ real most valuable player in 2015, but the 23-year-old finished fifth among AL position players in wins above replacement (7.1), according to Baseball Reference. In addition to hitting .286 with a career-high 35 home runs, 86 RBIs, and an .861 on-base plus slugging percentage, Machado also won the second Gold Glove of his career, further proving he has recovered fully from serious injuries to both knees.

Despite not receiving much love from BBWAA voters in the MVP voting, Davis is expected to cash in with one of the most lucrative contracts in free agency this winter. Machado is only entering his first arbitration-eligible offseason and won’t become a free agent until after the 2018 season.

Former Oriole Nelson Cruz finished sixth in the MVP voting after hitting 44 homers in his first season with Seattle.